U.S. vows to review trade cooperation with Nicaragua if elections unfair

FILE PHOTO: Police officers keep watch outside the Nicaragua Attorney General of the Republic office where Felix Maradiaga, aspiring candidate of the opposition group National Blue and White Unity (UNAB), was summoned by authorities, in Managua, Nicaragua June 8, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Herrera/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is prepared to review "trade-related activities" with Nicaragua, including Managua's participation in a Central America free trade agreement, if the country's coming elections are not free and fair, a senior State Department official said on Thursday.

Julie Chung, acting assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said Washington does not currently see conditions for democratic elections under "a wave of repression" by leftist President Daniel Ortega, and urged the Organization of American States to address the issue immediately.